F1 reportedly teams to stay quiet on Qatar as Verstappen and Sainz stand alone

The message went out after Yamaha decided to skip next week's MotoGP round at Lusail. F1 told teams about the Yamaha news before it broke, and the letter pointed out that the other manufacturers and MotoGP as a whole will still travel to Qatar. F1 has also told Autosport that its own plans for Qatar on 27-29 November have not changed.

According to reports, F1 has asked teams and drivers to hold back from strong criticism. That is the same approach the sport took earlier this year with the technical regulations. On the Middle East, teams are being asked to trust F1 and the FIA and to stick to the public line they have given in recent weeks.

F1's case for staying the course is that neither the travel advice nor the insurance situation has changed since May. F1 has been told there have been no attacks on civilian infrastructure in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates since May although F1 is still watching events closely, including the US midterm elections, this week.

Verstappen was the first big name to question the plan. Before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September, he told Viaplay that he was usually happy to race in the Gulf but that a nearby war changed things. GPblog reported at the time that his view put him at odds with Lewis Hamilton.

In October, Verstappen softened that message. Asked whether he might boycott the two races, he pushed back: "I said that I didn't want to race there? I just said that I love going there, but, of course, under the right terms." He added: "But I trust that F1 and then the FIA will take the right decision because they will have more information than us, and that's what we rely on."

In Mexico, Dutch media brought up Sainz's comments from Austin, and Verstappen laughed. "Someone will probably have had a word with him afterwards! You're not really allowed to say those things," he told the media session. On a more serious note, he said his own position now depends on the coming weeks: "It also depends a bit on what they can guarantee in terms of safety and what happens over the coming weeks."

At the FIA press conference before the United States Grand Prix, Sainz said he was speaking for himself and not as a GPDA director. "I think on my personal side, and not speaking as a GPDA, it's very difficult to be convinced right now because there's still plenty of things happening in the Middle East," he said. A few hours later, Williams put out a statement in his name: "I want to be clear that I know the FIA and Formula 1 will put safety first and completely trust them to make the right decision."

Behind the public line, the fallback options are moving too. Imola's organisers got the green light more than six weeks ago to start preparing and to build temporary grandstands. As GPblog reported earlier, teams have been told that 10 November is the last date to approve an Imola replacement race, which means the letter's call for patience comes with a deadline only days away.